B-there Heads Directly There W/ GetThere

<B>B-there Heads Directly There W/ GetThere</B>

By Chris Davis

Attendee management Web site B-there.com is set to license GetThere.com's online booking engine, allowing corporate meeting planners access to attendee information in real time, regardless of the global distribution system used in the booking.

The suppliers' agreement, which is expected to go into effect early next year, expands B-there's reach and compatibility with all GDSs. Previously, attendee hotel bookings made through B-there were booked through Worldspan.

"Since we now have fully integrated, real-time reporting, the corporation can access all meetings data, regardless of the GDS involved," said B-there founder and CEO Peggy Lee. "We've seen that corporate clients, more and more, want to choose their own tools. This is an integrated tool that essentially supports all preferred suppliers."

The agreement does not involve the meeting portal formerly dubbed AllMeetings.com, despite the facts that GetThere bought it in May and that B-there had its own agreement with the portal, now called GetThere DirectMeetings.

"This partnership is not integrated with our meetings offerings built through the AllMeetings-GetThere solution," said Mark Orttung, GetThere's vice president of product marketing. "This is a different effort, still a great opportunity in terms of one-time events through B-there and for us to provide booking technology. We are working through the strategy of developing a solution with the attendee management solution and AllMeetings."

The key benefit of this partnership will be for those corporations that do not have a consolidated meetings program but nevertheless have used B-there to book attendees, particularly those who are not employees of the company. Planners will have the opportunity to access attendees' travel and expenditure data in real time, and run appropriate reports, no matter what GDS handles the booking.

"If a corporation uses B-there for attendee management, then attendees have to come to B-there if they want to register and book online," Lee said. "So, all the data goes through us."

Lee said B-there still will conduct a few internal beta tests before releasing the combined offering to the public for a January launch. There will be a set-up fee and likely a monthly transaction-based fee, she said.

The agreement also enables B-there to get its foot in the direct-connection door, Lee said. "We want to embrace GetThere's direct connection potential, if that's what corporations want," she said. "They are light years ahead of anyone else in this space."

GetThere now will be able to access the association and trade show market, largely untapped by the company, which is B-there's bread and butter. "It's a very large market and a great opportunity to increase our booking volume, where we didn't have a strong presence," Orttung said. "When B-there handles a large-group event, their strength is setting up attendee management solutions, and they were looking to add booking solutions. It fits well into their environment and ours.